The aviation commissioner has sought to fast-track one of two challenges by Ryanair to his decision fixing the maximum charges the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) may levy at Dublin airport over a five-year period to 2014.
Ryanair is both seeking to judicially review the charging decision and to appeal it to a panel set up by the Minister for Transport. The DAA claims the effect of Ryanair’s proceedings, “if not their object”, is to create enormous uncertainty about charges to apply at Dublin airport’s Terminal 2, due to open in November.
While the DAA can apply the charges allowed by the comissioner, its counsel, Paul Sreenan, said Ryanair’s judicial review creates uncertainty for other operators whether they go into Terminal 2 as Ryanair is essentially looking for orders compelling the commissioner to oppose differential pricing between Terminals 1 and 2.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly said the case highlights a “discrepancy” in the Aviation Regulation Act 2001 as the Act both allows for “leisurely” appeals to the Minister for Transport against decisions of the commissioner while also prescribing a two-month limit within which applications for leave to seek judicial review of the same decisions must be brought.
The Act allows for parties, such as in this case, to ride two horses at the same time with a different time frame applying to both options, Mr Justice Kelly said. The legislation should be looked at to avoid a recurrence of this, he added.
He suggested Ryanair’s judicial review was “a waste of public time” in the Commercial Court while the airline continued to have its appeal in its “back pocket”. If Ryanair lost its appeal, it could then seek judicial review of the appeal tribunal’s decision, he noted.
Frank Beatty, for Ryanair, said his client was entitled to bring its proceedings.
The judge described as “quite unacceptable” that Ryanair, although essentially seeking to quash the commissioner’s decision, had applied for 23 different reliefs in that regard which were all “rehashes of the same thing”.
The “alphabet is insufficient” to provide for Ryanair’s grounds for judicial review, many of which - including a statement that Ryanair is a limited company providing low cost air travel - were “not grounds at all” and amounted to “spraying the countryside” with claims, he said.
Ryanair wants leave to judicially review the commissioner’s decison of December 4th, 2009. Leave can only be granted if “substanial grounds” are shown and must be sought within two months unless the High Court extends time. Ryanair wants the court to adjourn its leave application pending the outcome of its appeal, but the DAA and commissioner oppose any adjournment.
Mr Justice Kelly fixed April 15th next for the hearing of both the adjournment application and the leave application.